WFP Regional Bureau for Eastern Africa: Drought Response in the Horn of Africa – Situational Report #1

Key Highlights

The impact of drought in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia has led to food insecurity and a high level of acute malnutrition. 22 million people are food insecure due to drought.

• The IPC Famine Review Committee projects that famine is likely to occur in three areas in the Bay region in Somalia between October to December.
• The loss of livestock and reduced productivity has eroded the livelihoods of pastoral communities. In 2022, at least 9.2 million livestock deaths occurred in the drought-affected areas of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia.
• WFP has scaled up response across the Horn of Africa to respond to severe food shortages by providing lifesaving food and nutrition assistance to affected communities. For instance, in Somalia, WFP has more than doubled its life-saving food assistance from 1.7 million people in April 2022 with plans to reach 4.5 million in the coming months.
• WFP is also enabling communities to recover faster and better from the drought by investing in interventions that promote resilience and adaptive capacities of communities to deal with shocks.
• Forecasts indicate a potential increase in needs, additional funding is needed to sustain and scale up assistance to prevent more dire outcomes.
• WFP urgently needs US$ 1.27 billion for all its operations in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia for the period November 2022- until April 2023 across the four countries.

Source: World Food Programme